tm blog

If you’ve ever heard the saying ‘sitting ducks’, you’ll know we’re referring to easy targets. Unfortunately, this rings true for the majority of home movers, as findings show that a staggering 83% are ‘cyber blind’ to the risks posed by Friday afternoon fraudsters.

According to the latest Home Moving Trends report, published by tmgroup in partnership with the Property Academy, only 17% of clients consider transferring funds to their conveyancer to be a high-risk phase of the property transaction.

Capturing the opinions of over 14,000 home movers, the bottom line is that a vast number of property transactions are at risk of ‘Friday afternoon fraud’ every week; a stark warning to all conveyancers. For an industry that has already witnessed a number of high-profile incidents this year, including the Howard Mollett case, it’s not good news.

With fresh reports of fraudsters impersonating law firms continuing to appear in the Bold Legal Group (BLG) bulletin, it’s also clear that the problem isn’t going away any time soon.

It seems it’s no longer enough for conveyancers to simply include fraud and cyber crime messages in their welcome packs and assume that their clients are reading them. As the latest Home Moving Trends findings reveal, only 54% of clients claim to have read every word of their paperwork.

As Paul Albone, Managing Director at tmgroup, comments:

“With ever-savvier cyber criminals targeting the conveyancing world, assuming that every client is aware of every risk is no longer an option.”

With so much at stake, conveyancers need to be building checks into their processes to make sure their clients are fully aware of cyber crime threats and that they understand them. In many cases, this could be as simple as reiterating key messages in follow up calls and appointments, alongside awareness messages into email signatures.

Paul Albone, Managing Director at tmgroup, continues:

“As these statistics reveal, conveyancers need to be mindful of the fact that it is their responsibility to convey these risks to their clients – not merely as a conveyancing exercise, but in an attempt to eradicate this kind of fraud from the market, and reduce the level of risk to their firm, their reputation and their bank balance.”

Download the latest Home Moving Trends report to find out more

These findings were taken from the latest Home Moving Trends report, based on a survey of 14,389 home movers conducted by the Property Academy in partnership with tmgroup.

We’re pleased to report that we have recently made some minor amendments to key sections of our Premium Terms, adding clarity on certain points to better support our customers' needs.

These updates follow the official launch of our Premium Terms in September 2016, offering a whole of market approach; enabling customers to rely on a single set of Premium Terms irrespective of which customer has ordered the searches from us.

The warranties and subsequent £20 million indemnity offered under these terms stand ahead of any third party supplier terms, thus addressing the liability chain in the event of a claim. It also means that third party terms do not need reviewing, thus saving further time.

The terms Definitions and Interpretations will also satisfy reliance on search results associated with Islamic Finance underwritten according to Sharia Law.

Customers on Premium Terms also benefit from additional services

By signing up to Premium Terms, our customers can also benefit from a host of additional services, including:

• End to end management of property portfolios

• Managed case

• LR volume orders including register extract service

• tm clinics

• Transition management

Jon Horton, Account Director at tmgroup, comments:

“These changes to our Premium Terms underline our understanding of the commercial real estate market, by listening to our customers and shaping our services to meet their needs. The complimentary Premium Services reiterate our core business message that ‘we make time for you’.”

: About Premium

Information about Premium is available on our website and from your Account Management Team.

Jon Horton

Having worked in the tm sales team since 2002, Jon now heads up tmconnect - a sophisticated, user friendly system that facilitates property collaboration.

tmgroup has increased their Professional Indemnity (PI) Insurance cover from £10 million to £20 million, as part of a series of enhancements to their Premium Service.

These improvements have been specially designed around the unique requirements of Professional Support Lawyers; and carefully considered to give them the support they need to confidently deliver to their colleagues whilst upholding the best interests of their clients and others who rely upon the conveyancing searches.

The Premium Terms and Conditions are easier to read

In addition to increasing their Professional Indemnity (PI) Insurance cover to £20 million, tmgroup has also simplified their Premium Terms and Conditions into a single, straight-forward document.

This makes them easier to read, whilst retaining the comprehensive cover tmgroup has been providing since 2006.

Current Premium Customers will automatically benefit from these changes

Customers already using the Premium service will automatically benefit from these enhancements, while any customers currently using tmgroup’s General Terms and Conditions are advised to talk to their Account Manager about the benefits of upgrading.

Leading property data and service provider tmgroup have announced that just 3 weeks after launching their new LR extract property portfolio tool they have made further improvements to save conveyancers even more time.

The Land Registry Register Extract Tool helps conveyancing firms save days of administrative processing when bulk ordering registers and plans from the Land Registry as part of a property portfolio.

It was created by tmgroup after they found that bulk ordering OC1 documents was an arduous and time-consuming task for many property solicitors and were able to take advantage of their access to the Land Registry’s Business Gateway to create this unique service.

Daniel Berger, a partner at BBS Law - a commercial property lawyers in Manchester – said this after using tmgroup’s LR Extract Tool:

"We instantly saved more than half a day of processing time and received the information online in one go in a really easy-to-use format which did away with all of the hassle usually involved with interpreting the data. I would absolutely recommend tmgroup’s LR Extract Portfolio Service to any conveyancing firm undertaking a property portfolio.”

When initially launched, the tool was designed for conveyancers to upload any number of postcodes or addresses before checking them against the Land Registry’s database and returning title information.

However, after early feedback suggesting an enhancement that would save conveyancers even more time, tmgroup reacted to customer requests to allow conveyancers to upload title numbers where known as well and then simply order registers and plans against those.

Ben Harris said:

“We met with our prime commercial customers and then developed this tool to meet their needs and in the first three weeks since launch over half the firms we have met with have signed up to use the service straight away, confirming that our customer led innovation is as strong as ever.”

A Manchester Law Firm, BBS Law, has saved days of intensive administrative work by using tmgroup’s Land Registry Register Extract Tool when processing property portfolios. BBS Law are a boutique commercial law firm of choice and provide proactive, lateral thinking, efficient and cost-effective advice.

Partner Daniel Berger (pictured) heads up the property department, which has acted for substantial real estate clients for many years. The highly skilled property team delivers advice on a wide variety of property transactions and issues.

However, with the undertaking of property portfolios, there was one particular process which caused BBS Law problems. Daniel said:

“Whenever we’ve undertaken a property portfolio, we’ve always found the bulk order of title information from the Land Registry to be a tiresome and repetitive job.

Ordering title information from the Land Registry for just one or two properties can sometimes be a cumbersome affair, let alone when processing a portfolio of 50, 100 or 1000 properties. Daniel continued:

“The process generally holds up one of our secretaries for at least half a day to work on it and that’s just for a relatively small portfolio.”

With larger portfolios the administrative work scales dramatically because much of Daniel’s time was taken up by manually interpreting the initial plans and deciding which title numbers to order registers against.

The Land Registry tool, which was created by tmgroup as part of a collaborative development with existing clients, helps solve this issue by integrating with the Land Registry to bulk order title information and export it in a manageable, easy to use format. Speaking about his initial experiences with the unique service, Daniel said:

“We instantly saved more than half a day of processing time and received the information online in one go in a really easy-to-use format which did away with all of the hassle usually involved with interpreting the data. I would absolutely recommend tmgroup’s LR Extract Portfolio Service to any conveyancing firm undertaking a property portfolio.”

The service has also been independently verified by Legal Eye, a leading provider of best practice, risk management and compliance services to the legal services market. Managing Director, Jaunita Gobby said:

"Legal Eye (subsidiary of ULS Group) conducted an extensive audit of the tm LR Register Extract Service. The information was cross-referenced with the Official Copies (OC1s) and the data was 100% accurate. The audit has shown that the service is able to accurately pull through the exact information from the registers onto its portal so as to make it more user friendly and accessible to its clients. The tm summary screen gives a helpful indicator to detailed information contained within the OC1 which lawyers can then refer to. In our opinion lawyers should feel satisfied that the information provided on screen via the LR feed matches the information relied upon in the OC1s."

The tool is available now for commercial conveyancers through tmconvey. Learn more

In a property transaction, information concerning a property's relationship with local Highways has not always been readily available for conveyancers to pass on to their clients but serious problems can arise if they aren't identified early on in the transaction.

Recent research conducted by tmgroup revealed that 1 in 10 conveyancers never order a Highways Search, so we sat down with Rebecca Hickey Head of Legal Product at Landmark Information Group to learn more about why it's necessary to obtain this information.

Highways, why can they be tricky?For residential and commercial conveyancing transactions, it is critical to investigate the precise extent of the adoption status of highways in and around the perimeter of the site. For example, you may believe that the footpath in front of the building is indeed publically owned and adopted but in reality it might not be.

What if the path hasn’t been adopted?There could be potential issues with access to the property and it could have implications for the property owner regarding responsibility for its future upkeep; it could even affect the potential for redevelopment.

And if this wasn’t identified during the transaction?Failure to identify developments where adoption procedures have not been dealt with adequately can cause delays to transactions as well as pose a risk to the purchaser’s future plans for the site.

So conveyancers should investigate?Absolutely. If you were to imagine a typical scenario where a purchaser is looking to buy a property and the surrounding land which abuts a neighbouring property and there is a shared access onto the land. As part of the due diligence the purchaser’s solicitor would need to identify the exact status of the access and the ownership of the area.

Is it publicly adopted by the local authority, therefore they are responsible for maintenance and granting access or is it privately owned? In order for the transaction to proceed the status of the access way would need to be confirmed.

What implications could it have for the purchaser?Well, the purchaser may need to purchase additional pieces of land, negotiate shared access or at least negotiate a regular payment towards repairs. This will undoubtedly add time and complexity to the transaction, which is not what either party want.

Vital information then – so, what sort of barriers would one normally face when attempting to source Highways data from Local Authorities?

With each Local Authority, the turnaround times for gathering this Highways data can vary widely. The same goes for the cost of the information and the level of detail provided.

How can you have the peace of mind that you have considered all the necessary aspects regarding the highways around the site?A Highways report is the best way to obtain peace of mind for yourself and your client on this matter. For example, the Argyll SiteSolutions Highways report provides answers on the adoption status of highways surrounding the site; details of any road improvement schemes as well as rights of way. The report is manually assembled by a team dedicated to the production of this report with years of experience in the collation and analysis of Local Authority data and all data is sourced from the relevant Local Authority, Highways Agency or the Ordnance Survey. The report is backed by £10 million professional indemnity cover and has a fixed price of £120 +VAT.

About RebeccaRebecca Hickey joined Landmark Information Group in 2006 and fulfilled a number of different roles, including Project Manager and Senior Product Manager before taking the role of Head of Product (Legal Division) in 2015.

tmgroup have today announced the launch of a unique new time-saving tool for conveyancers, specially designed for undertaking bulk orders of title information across a portfolio of properties.

The unique register extract tool takes all of the addresses in a portfolio, returns the title numbers and orders the relevant Official Copies from the Land Registry, returning them in a practical format for conveyancers to use.

The tool, endorsed by Legal Eye Ltd., is the first of its kind and will streamline the processing of portfolios for conveyancing firms & housing associations, helping them save several hours each time, as well as improving the accuracy and flexibility of the data.

Jaunita Gobby, Managing Director, of Legal-Eye Ltd. comments:

"Legal Eye (subsidiary of ULS Group) conducted an extensive audit of the tmgroup Land Registry register extract service. The information on the tmgroup Land Registry register extract service was cross-referenced with the Official Copies (OC1’s) and the data was 100% accurate."

Market research conducted by tmgroup found that conveyancers typically spend around 4 hours ordering titles and OC1 documents on an average portfolio and so developed the tool to enable conveyancers to reduce this down to just minutes.

“As part of tm’s commitment to streamlining the property transaction, we’re delighted to announce the launch of this new and unique tool. We have collaborated with some of our key clients to develop this exciting piece of technology and we are proud to continue to innovate and develop new services which will save conveyancers lots of time and streamline what is currently a very manual process.”

Another challenge that tmgroup market research revealed was that conveyancers often employed dedicated staff to spend days manually transferring the data contained within Official Copies (OC1s) into spreadsheets for analysis and future reference. However, the new tool exports this data for conveyancers accurately into an easy-to-use format.

Juanita Gobby said:“Considering the fact that OC1’s are lengthy documents with very detailed specific information, the audit has shown that the service is able to accurately pull through the exact information from the registers onto its portal so as to make it more user friendly and accessible to its clients.”

“The tm summary screen gives a helpful indicator to detailed information contained within the OC1 which lawyers can then refer to. In our opinion lawyers should feel satisfied that the information provided on screen via the LR feed matches the information relied upon in the OC1’s.”

To learn how your firm could benefit from this new, unique property tool call tmgroup on 0844 249 9217 or email portfolioteam@tmgroup.co.uk.

Every month, we ask a topical question to help gain a consensus on various issues that affect property solicitors. This month we're exploring the Highways Search.

Whilst it's standard practice to order a local search or SIM (Search of Index Map) to check the property boundary, the problem with the local search is that it will tell you which roads are adopted but it won't tell you if your client can actually access their property from the road if, for example, a ransom strip exists.

Likewise, particularly in a commercial property transaction, the SIM search plan is not detailed enough to show you the nooks and crannies where access problems can lurk - there’s your problem and that's why you need something more robust and comprehensive such as a Highways Search. This month we're asking:

When the Law Society asked about the adoption of the new capital allowances legislation 37% of respondents said that they felt it was not the solicitor's responsibility to establish a position on capital allowances for a given property.

A further 18% did not yet realise that it is the solicitor’s responsibility to do this and have made limited progress in complying with the new legislation.

So, in total, 55% of the poll had an issue with complying with the April 2014 capital allowance practice note.

All of this is very similar to the TM Group research which found that 52% of respondents answered "What Practice Note?" and less than 10% were 'finding it easy to fulfil their obligations'.

• Only 20% of solicitors said they know everything they need to know about the Capital Allowance 2014 changes.

• 70% admitted they would like to know more.

The other consistent theme from the Law Society's report was that clients are also unaware of capital allowances and the tax relief they can claim, which is backed up with 40% of law firms saying that their client never raises the issue during a transaction.

Is this because clients view capital allowances as a complication that delays matters rather than a benefit, albeit in the longer term?

But it doesn’t have to be like this with the client uninterested and the solicitor failing to comply with legislation; potentially exposing themselves to a negligence claim.

Practical ways of helping your clients with Capital Allowances

Add some wording into the client care letter, maybe the firm could offer some form of assistance to complete Section 32 of the CPSE.1? Certainly it's a good idea to raise the issue as early as possible in the transaction.

An easy way to help and be able to demonstrate your compliance is to obtain a search.

In the same way you do with the Contaminated Land and Flooding Practice Note, you can order a Capital Allowance Check which can be passed onto the client to help them get underway with some information which they can pass onto their tax advisors.

TM have launched a commercial search at £50 and a residential one at £15 which, with some additional information from the client, can be returned in hours. Simply login to the system to order or contact us to set you up with a account.

The issues associated with capital allowances are not going to go away and nor is the duty that solicitors have to their clients since the April 2014 changes.

The process for determining allowances can be improved quite quickly, with very little upheaval to you or your firm's existing processes. A few simple steps like the ones above could certainly help both solicitors and clients alike.

Recent research from TM Group suggests that for many the issue of Capital Allowances has snuck in under the radar.

From research conducted in February 2015, when asked ‘How easy are you finding it to carry out your requirements as set out in the Law Society Practice Note on Capital Allowances?’ 52% percent of respondents answered ‘What Practice Note?!’ and less than 10% were finding it easy to fulfil their obligations. Read the original poll here.

"So what?" you may think, "this is a complex tax area, so isn’t it dealt with via tax specialists?"

The answer is yes but actually, later in the process, conveyancers are involved and are required to be proactive from the very start, thanks to the Practice Note.

Since April 2014 - so, nearly a year ago - whether you are acting for a buyer or a seller you should be raising the issue of Capital Allowances with your client as early as possible in the transaction. Why? Well, it can take time to put all of the documentation together but, more importantly, failing to advise the client could result in delays or financial loss to them.

Also, to reinforce the point, after 1 April 2014 if you sell a property but haven’t identified the available allowances and the client then claimed them via their tax return the unclaimed allowances are lost for the seller, the buyer and any future owner of the property.

Without unnecessary scaremongering, non-compliance of the Practice Note and subsequent loss of the Capital Allowance could lead to some quite high claims from clients, potentially running into tens of thousands of pounds.

You should also look to add some information into the client care letter. But how can you easily demonstrate that you have advised your client and discharged your duties in this area?

My answer would be in the same way you do with the contaminated land and flooding: with a search that can be passed onto the client to help them in this matter and get them underway with some information which they can pass onto their tax advisors.

TM have launched a commercial search at £50 and a residential one at £15 which, with some additional information from the client, can be returned in hours.

Not only can your client start their claim early in the transaction, or cost-effectively show that there isn’t a claim but, as a solicitor, you can very easily demonstrate that you have carried out your duties as set out by the Law Society.

If you would like some more information on this new search please contact your account manager or the TM Group helpdesk on 0844 249 9200 and helpdesk@tmgroup.co.uk.